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Table 1 Characteristics of the 2010 and 2015 samples (%)1

From: Assessing junk food consumption among Australian children: trends and associated characteristics from a cross-sectional study

 

Younger children

(years K/2/4)

Older children

(years 6/8/10)

 

2010

n = 3437

2015

n = 3489

2010

n = 4128

2015

n = 3455

Sex

 Boys

51.6

48.9

52.0

50.9

 Girls

48.4

51.1

48.0

49.1

Socioeconomic tertile

 Low

29.9

20.3

28.3

31.4

 Middle

43.4

33.7

38.7

33.4

 High

26.7

46.0

33.0

35.2

Cultural background

 English-speaking

86.0

88.4

87.4

87.6

 European

0.9

1.5

1.8

1.3

 Middle Eastern

4.7

3.6

3.2

3.2

 Asian

8.4

6.5

7.6

7.8

Locality

 Urban

88.3

78.4

80.1

73.7

 Rural

11.7

21.6

19.9

26.3

Meets fruit serve recommendation

 No

29.9

22.8 4

25.0

19.2 2

 Yes

70.1

77.2

75.0

80.8

Meets vegetable serve recommendation

 No

97.3

97.4

93.4

88.9 4

 Yes

2.7

2.6

6.6

11.1

Takeaways ≥3/week

 No

99.2

98.5 3

96.8

97.6 2

 Yes

0.8

1.5

3.2

2.4

Eat breakfast daily

 No

12.6

13.0

30.5

35.7

 Yes

87.4

87.0

69.5

64.3

Eats dinner in front of the TV

 No

81.1

84.7 2

77.4

80.4

 Yes

18.9

15.3

22.6

19.6

Sweets as a reward for good behaviour

 Rarely/never

40.1

40.8

53.9

52.1

 Sometimes

49.8

52.7

39.3

42.0

 Usually

10.1

6.6

6.8

5.9

Unrestricted snacking at home

 Yes

-

89.9

-

50.2

 No

-

10.1

-

49.8

Soft drinks available in the home

 Rarely/never

-

66.5

31.9

42.8 4

 Sometimes

-

27.1

40.4

41.3

 Usually

-

6.5

27.7

15.9

Has TV in the bedroom

 No

76.0

85.4 2

60.1

70.1 4

 Yes

24.0

14.6

39.9

29.9

Meets physical activity recommendation

 No

-

74.6

-

87.1 4

 Yes

-

25.4

-

12.9

Meet screen time recommendation (weekdays)

 No

41.7

38.0

54.7

55.7

 Yes

58.3

62.0

45.3

44.3

Meet screen time recommendation (weekend days)

 No

85.2

83.5

79.7

76.6

 Yes

14.8

16.5

20.3

23.4

  1. 1Population-weighted proportions; Differences between 2010 and 2015 prevalences 2 p < 0.05; 3 p < 0.01; 4 p < 0.001